They work tirelessly all day under the harsh rays of a blazing sun, the stench of death and destruction around them. They are a team of Jewish heroes who are working around the clock with one mission: the recovery of human bodies.

The SA Friends of the Beit Halochem Zahal Disabled Veterans Organisation was established in Johannesburg in 1982, its primary goal being to help and support Zahal disabled veterans by raising funds to help them return and resume their normal lives as soon as possible.

There’s a popular weekly satirical show in Israel called Eretz Nehederet. In a recent episode, an actor playing Benny Gantz, the former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and newcomer to Israeli politics, is asked how he’s feeling.

Devotion to the cause of the State of Israel flourishes in the most unlikely places, even in societies where the Jewish presence is small to non-existent. Such is the case in Mozambique, where the work of Beth-El Associacao Crista Amigos De Israel - Mozambican Christian Friends of Israel - testifies to how much can be achieved by those inspired by their Christian faith to promote the Israeli cause, despite adverse conditions.

JNF’s unique “Blue Boy Box” now lives at King David Linksfield Pre-Primary so that children of each generation learn the importance of tzedakah (charity or welfare). It is the responsibility of Jews all over the world to build Israel, develop it and nurture it as the home of the Jewish nation

“Knowledge is Light” was our school motto when I was a child in Durban. The importance of education was made clear to us from as far back as I can remember. It wasn’t taken for granted. A good education was a privilege.

(JTA) Norwegian rapper not charged with hate speech
A Norwegian rapper who cursed Jews while performing at an event in Oslo promoting multiculturalism will not be charged with hate speech, because his words may have been criticism of Israel, prosecutors said.

Did Israeli soldiers violate international law by deliberately targeting unarmed children, journalists, health workers, and people with disabilities during the past year of violence along the Israel-Gaza border?

(JTA) After the New England Patriots beat the favoured Kansas City Chiefs to reach their third straight Super Bowl – their amazing ninth in less than 20 years – CBS sports analyst Boomer Esiason made an intriguing statement, namely that Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman belongs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

We are winging our way towards Human Rights Day (21 March), the first public holiday of the year, which coincides with Purim. I can’t help but wonder about our concept of human rights and what it means, not least of all, to our government.

President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed in parliament last week that South Africa intended to downgrade its diplomatic presence in Israel. The foreign affairs bureaucracy was working “feverishly” on the matter. “The decision to downgrade the embassy in Israel is informed precisely by the violation of the rights of Palestinians and we are therefore putting pressure on Israel. But at the same time, we are saying we are willing to play a role and ensure there is peace,” said Ramaphosa.

Undeterred, and in spite of the hate-filled disparagement that spewed forth when Shashi Naidoo uttered positive comments about Israel and Jews last year, Haafizah Bhamjee penned a reasoned and sensible article on Israel and the Palestinians in the SA Jewish Report of 22 February.

With Prince William’s historic visit to Israel this week, all eyes have been trained on the Jewish capital. It may have taken 70 years, but the first official visit by a member of the British Royal family began in Israel on Monday, when William, the Duke of Cambridge, arrived in Tel Aviv.

Some 5 600 emissaries (shluchim) from Chabad-Lubavitch from all over the world gathered at the Pier 8 warehouse in Brooklyn, New York this week for the opening of their four-day annual international conference and banquet, 75 years after the arrival of the Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson, from Europe.

One of the questions that haunts the story of Purim and moves silently through the lines of the Megillah is clear and chillingly simple: How could Jews have chosen to remain in Persian Shushan? It was so clearly an environment in which anti-Semitism was so prevalent that a genocide could be planned and almost implemented without comment by broader society.

“The greatness of our nation is that our people are great. We are a nation of heroes, of people with good and decent moral fibre who will not tolerate our country being plundered!” So said Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein in Pretoria this morning.“This is a struggle for accountability and justice,” Goldstein told the crowd (which included prominent Jewish CEOs like Adrian Gore, Stephen Koseff and Michael Katz). “This struggle is about sovereignty. The power of the people always triumphs in the end.”

Lawyers are preparing criminal and civil charges following one of the darkest weeks of anti-Semitism in South Africa. There have been a slew of vile incidents that sent shock waves through the community.

In support of World Refugee Day last week, Cosatu posted a photograph of supposed Palestinian refugees on Twitter. Tweeple were quick to catch the labour federation out in clarifying that, rather than being desperate Palestinians, the people in the picture were Jews.

The Rosettenville Shul is just a shell of what it used to be. Once a thriving shul and community, this beautiful 88-year-old shul now sits empty, having had its last service on Rosh Chodesh Iyar (Sunday 15 April).

It is deeply moving to watch how the Shabbos Project has matured here in South Africa over the last five years. It has become part of the fabric of our community, and touches almost every one of us in a real and meaningful way. I saw this so clearly during Sukkot, when my wife and I hosted the student leaders of the various Jewish day schools in our Sukkah. Three even came from Cape Town to be part of the gathering, which was devoted to brain-storming and galvanising to work together for the Shabbos Project. I was struck by the warmth, energy and enthusiasm of these young grade 11 leaders who love the Shabbos Project and what it does for our community. It made me realise how much the Shabbos Project has entered our hearts and minds.

As exams approached, and the stresses of being a first year UCT engineering student studying away from home began to catch up with me and I was feeling stressed for time, Shabbos had always been a time to take a step back from the stresses of day-to-day life, and truly reflect on what is important; spending uninterrupted time with family, discussing Torah thoughts around the dinner table, and finding a sense of pure spiritual connection in shul.

My first Shabbos Project was last year and the conclusion to a difficult stretch. My partner, Rory, and I had fumbled our way into Cape Town from Johannesburg and were a little shell-shocked by the instant disappearance of the helping hands and compassionate ears we had become so accustomed to. At the risk of alienating some locals… man, Capetonians can be icy.

Cape Town is brown and dry and running out of water fast. The province has been declared a disaster area. Many Jewish Capetonians were grateful for Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein’s call earlier this week for all South African Jews to do a half-day fast for rain in Cape Town.

Sinai Indaba’s launch in Cape Town last weekend drew far more young people - school kids and university students alike - than in previous years because many had been unable to attend because of exam commitments. There was a special Sinai Indaba youth track, “Sinai Next”, that catered specifically to high-school learners.

Nissim Black wears his heart on his sleeve. That heart, like everything about him, is warm and large, and that sleeve is on a black, silk chassidic caftan - far removed from the oversized T-shirts, baggy tracksuit bottoms, and bling he sported on his first foray into hip-hop, yet worn with the same air of unquestionable cool.

A group of Wits students of all religions were elated on Monday after hearing that their application to form a Hebrew Society had been approved at the eleventh hour. With orientation week, commonly known as “O-week” set to begin on campus next Monday, January 30, clubs and societies set up shop to attract members and, had the approval not been granted this week, it would have delayed the students’ plans for a year.

They came from near and far to pay tribute to the memory of Rabbi Nachman Meir Bernhard - Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein, Rabbi Mendel Lipskar, head of the Lubavitch Foundation, many rabbonim, and Rabbi Bernhard’s wife Joan, his children from South Africa, Israel and the US, to witness the unveiling of a plaque in the rabbi’s memory at Torah Academy Primary School.

They came together from all over sub-Saharan Africa - South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Swaziland, Mauritius and Kenya - to discuss the theme “Independence and Isolation - Combining Two Forces”, gathering in Cape Town for a mini conference of the African Jewish Congress, last week Sunday.

“Sugihara didn’t only save my grandfather, he also saved me. Because if not for Sugihara I may very well not be standing here today.”
These were the words of Rebbetzen Sarah Feldman of the Gardens Synagogue in Cape Town, speaking on Monday at the opening of the Jewish Refugees in Shanghai exhibition at the South African Jewish Museum. Her grandfather, Rabbi Shimon Goldman, hailed from the city of Shedlitz in Poland.